​HOW IS POLLUTION AFFECTING MARINE LIFE

Aline Matz

​ Global Studies and World Languages Academy

Instructor:​ Mr. Falls

December 17th, 2018

Annotated biography

1. ”Americans throw away an estimated 100 billion plastic bags a year, according to the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which says the average bag takes up to 1000

years to break down. Even then, the plastic remains in the environment and food chain.

Plastic litter entering the marine environment has swelled to an estimated 8 million tons

per year and as the world’s largest generator of waste, the U.S. contributes to that

long-lasting pollution.” ​www.asyouow.org

2. “The use of plastic consumer goods causes $75 billion of environmental harm annually

to natural ecosystems, including $13 billion specifically to marine ecosystems. After a

single use, 95% of plastic packaging material value ends up in landfills, as roadside litter,

or in the ocean.” UN Environment Programme 2014

3. “The solution to pollution is dilution. “Proponents of dumping in the oceans.

4. “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. “ Robert

Swan

5. “Pollution is not a new phenomenon; it is largely controllable and often avoidable, but

considerably neglected.” UN Environment Programme 2017

Literature review

1. Marine pollution, Centuries of Abuse have taken a heavy toll, 2010,

https://www.nationalgeographic.com

2. Towards a Pollution-Free Planet, United Nations Environment Program, 2017,

https://un.org

3. Things you can do to save the oceans, 2015,​https:nationalgeographic.com

4. Water Pollution, Thank you Ocean, 2015, ​https://thankyouocean.org/

5. Towards a Pollution-Free Planet, United Nations Environment Programme, 2017,

https://un.org

Thesis statement

Everyone will agree that pollution, in general terms, is not a new world phenomenon. However,

the magnitude of it during the last decades indicates that actions are required if we want to live

in a safe and wealthy environment. Many studies have estimated that millions of tons of plastic

and other waste are dumped in the oceans every year and the marine life, from tiny plankton to

big whales, is negatively affected by plastic and other forms of pollution.

The pollution affecting marine life is not created by the oceans themselves but by us and our

actions and behaviors as consumers. Just like the global warming we are facing today, if we are

the problem, we can also be the solution to it. We must act today, if not our own actions to trash

the oceans will have severe consequences for all of us, and not only the marine life.
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My objective is to demonstrate that we need a clean world and therefore must reduce marine

pollution. To implement the required changes, we must act at all levels, from simple consumers

to international worldwide organizations.

Introduction

What is Marine pollution?

You pollute if you introduce harmful objects in a given ecosystem, that are outside the norm. An

extreme example would be to drop nuclear wastes in the Rappahannock river. Marine pollution

is not just about plastic which is today’s media focus. “Marine pollution occurs when harmful

effects result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural, and

residential waste, noise, or the spread of invasive organisms. Eighty percent of marine pollution

comes from land. Air pollution is also a contributing factor by carrying off pesticides or dirt into

the ocean”.

What is the problem?

The oceans cover almost three quarter of the world’s surface and are a diverse and rich

ecosystem that we need survive. The oceans provide almost 100 percent of the world’s water

supply and over 70 percent of the oxygen we breathe. Oceans are threatened by pollution which

comes in many ways, the largest factor affecting the oceans being plastic. All these different

pollution harmful effects might have different impacts on marine life. We need to consider those

effects together to really understand the magnitude of the problem. Doing so, we will be able to

figure out the different ways we must address them.

Why do we have these pollution issues?

Over the last decade, the world has produced more plastic products than we have in the last

100 years. This is an incredible increase in plastic consumption that is directly affecting the

marine life and the rest of the world. In very simple terms, plastic is killing not only marine

mammals but also land mammals. Plastic effects can destroy and wipe out entire species.

What can we do?

In order to protect the oceans from the main and biggest marine pollution threats, policies have

been developed internationally. There are different ways for the oceans to get polluted,

therefore there have been multiple laws, policies, and treaties put into place very recently. We

however need to have a comprehensive action plan, not only tackling the pollution in the oceans

but tackling the pollution everywhere it exists.

Main considerations

A few weeks ago, I was having breakfast with my family and had the opportunity to know more

about oyster restoration project for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation based. It was on an article

in the Virginian Pilot. I was really interested to understand why this local initiative is so

important for the community in the Hamptons. The plan is actually to have millions of oysters in

the Chesapeake Bay; each oyster could filter 50 gallons of water every single day! I don’t like

eating oyster but I now fully appreciate their key role in filtering the water and make the

Chesapeake bay a healthier place to live. This project is not a one-man effort though; it took

millions of dollars and thousands of volunteers. So, the question I had is how we can made the

difference at a larger scale, with the well knows plastic pollution issue?
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When we talk about marine pollution, we need to start the discussion with the perception that

many of us have; our oceans are so vast and deep that even if we dump our trash into it, this

will not make a difference. With the evolving technology and speed of information, we now

know that our assumption was wrong. How many of us have seen pictures from around the

world with devastating pollution effects? All of us…

As I already said, pollution is not new, but many studies and pictures with comments shared by

all of us through media platforms such as Facebook, are all evidence that the problem has

accelerated for the past decades. What is really worrying is the way pollution is affecting all of

us. Let me explain what I mean here; we pollute the oceans with all sorts of products such as

detergents, pesticides, fertilizers, oil, sewage and plastics. Many of these are then consumed by

small marine organisms and fish, and finally introduced into the global food chain. So, if you

would like, we are eating our own garbage.

Some time, it is not ending into your own plate. Unfortunately, solid plastic wastes are

consumed by marine mammals with frequently fatal effects. If not eaten, other plastics such as

the discarded fishing nets ensnare marine life with the same fatal effects. I was shocked to see

how in certain regions of the world, ocean currents corral plastic trash into gigantic patches.

So let’s go back and review the ways by which pollution enters the ocean. The first main source

of pollution is from sewage. Pollution go through sewage and rivers directly into the oceans.

This pollution reduces the oxygen levels and therefore causes a decline in the quality of the sea

water itself. As a result, the whole marine life is highly affected.

The second source is related to the toxic chemicals mainly from industries that are also directly

discharged into oceans. Those increase the water temperature as the temperature of these

liquid wastes is quite high. Some of the marine life cannot survive at higher temperatures and

will perish.

Another source of pollution is the flooding. We have been through this a lot in the recent years,

the last time here in North Carolina in October 2018. Soil is saturated, and the excess water has

no option other that flowing over the land and into the ocean. This excess water takes in her

path many harmful contaminants such as petroleum and fertilizers that will then pollute the

oceans and create dead zones in the oceans.

Finally, oil spills are other sources of oceans’ pollution. As we all know, oil spills are so

devastating to marine life and so hard to fix when it happens. Maritime shipping business and

their lack of respect for the environment is not helpful in that respect.

I would not be complete if the climate changes are not mentioned here as a detrimental aspect.

As we all have witnessed, the temperature of the oceans is affected by climate changes. This is

another key element that does not help in preventing pollution. Also, some believe that pollution

is about stuffs wasted in water. Well, I can tell you that in the oceans, underwater sound waves

can have a huge impact. With the industrial and military revolution, there is an increase of loud

sounds from ships, submarines, sonar devices, oil rigs. All this has disrupted the life of many

marine animals, particularly whales.

Understanding the ways by which oceans are polluted, I would like now to elaborate on the

effects prior discussing the potential actions. The effects are various and start with cancer,

failure to reproduce, lung and liver failures and death. The most dangerous aspect here is the

effect on the food chain as I briefly explained earlier in the paper. Pollution affects the whole

food chain; our waste into the kitchen sink to the sewer to the river to the oceans to the mammal

life back into our plates. This will bring long term health issues for us.

Now that we know the ways and the effects, I think we all are aware and will agree with the fact

that ocean pollution as a big deal and probably the greatest threat ever to our oceans. For

hundreds of years, the oceans have been considered as the right place to dispose tons of waste

where it would be so diluted that it would do no harm. We now know it is not the case. Dead

zones covering hundred of thousands square kilometers and floating islands of plastics, are

evidence that human wastes are a real issue. Plastic waste in the oceans is now so common it

is hard to find a clean waste free beach. The impressive volume of human waste products and

the fact that most people live along coasts imply there is no simple and single measure that can

address marine pollution. Coming back to the plastic pollution affecting and killing marine life,

the issue was publicly known in the past recent years with better research and availability of

data and analysis. As indicated in a research paper, a 2015 study concluded that “the ocean

contains far more degraded plastic than previously believed. The ocean contain an estimated

150 million tons of plastic, with 8 million tons added annually-equivalent to a garbage truck load

every minute.” Further, another study conducted in 2016 “predicted oceans will contain more

plastic than fish by 2050 if no actions are taken to reduce the flow of plastics into waterways.”

This is outrageous, and actions need to occur right now. When you think that only a very small

fraction of plastic ocean pollution is visible. The pollution is made of very small degraded
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particles spreading across large areas of the oceans. As said earlier, those particles are getting

inside the digestive systems of mammals leading to disease and death.

I was wondering what the financial implication of ocean pollution is and was really staggered to

read in a UN report that the “use of plastic causes $75 billion of environmental harm annually to

natural ecosystems, including $13 billion specifically to marine ecosystems. After a single use,

95% of plastic packaging material value ends up in landfills. As roadside litter, or in the ocean.”

Pollution causes serious economic losses and it is just the beginning. To come back to our

local communities, the cost to face the flooding, beaches cleaning and waste disposal is

gigantic. The military bases and private shipping industry are also impacted by higher costs to

run and maintained their businesses.

Actions

Time to act before irreversible damages are done to our oceans. What can we do?

Many actions are possible right now. I would like to go through some of them, starting from the

easy ones going to the most difficult ones that will take years to achieve.

I realized through my research and reading that many actions can happen at my level, with my

family. I explained the main source of pollution is sewage. Well we could for instance keep our

sewer drains clear and prevent waste from flowing into the oceans, for my family located just 5

miles from my house. This is something I can influence today at no cost! Another very easy

action would be to dispose waste properly; I very often noticed that we do not pay enough

attention to the way we separate our dangerous waste such as batteries and oil. I will make
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sure we do in the future! And sometimes, instead of wasting things, we might decide to reuse

them; there is nothing wrong to reuse an empty bottle of water or bag for groceries… or even

better, use paper bags! Finally, wherever I go and particularly at the beach, I will make sure I

take away whatever wate I need to, even if it is not mine. Plastic pollution is largely about

packaging or fast food dining supplies. This is our collective responsibility to clean this mess!

What needs to be done at higher level but still by the local community is about the actions to

decrease the wasting of untreated water and reduce excess chemical products from the

farmers. In the Hampton areas, this is particularly critical to do so to conserve our coasts and

the wetlands.

And there are many actions that unfortunately cannot influence but here are my ideas. If plastic

is the main source of pollution, we should do whatever it takes to reduce the use of it and, if still

in use, promote their re-use. I think there is still a lot to do to action this and make plastic

producers accountable for any waste effect plastic might cause. Producers should pay the bill,

not the consumers! I do not think we can just get rid of plastic but I am saying we could have a

better approach to design, produce plastics that are hundred percent biodegradable and would

therefore have no harmful effect in the ocean on mammal life.

At the highest level, I understand we need the political will for addressing marine pollution.

Without changes in laws and policy, we will not make it. Though my diverse reading, I am

confident this will happen soon. Pollution is a problem we can solve. The main challenges are

costs and tradeoffs. And this is particularly true for asian countries.
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Some of the very good evidences the world wants to change is about the industry reactions. As

examples, I would like to mention the following:

1. Procter & Gamble would agree to make 90% of its packaging recyclable,

2. Colgate-Palmolive would pledge to make all packaging recyclable and to use 50%

recycled content,

3. Target Corp would agree to engage with its suppliers to phase out the use of harmful

polystyrene foam for e-commerce packaging,

4. Unilever would agree to make 100% of its packaging recyclable, reusable, or

compostable by 2025,

5. McDonald’s would agree to stop using polystyrene foam cups globally and to recycle all

packaging in its restaurants worldwide by 2025.

6. Dunkin’Brands committed to a schedule for phasing out foam coffee cups.

7. Starbucks called for the phase out of plastic straws.

8. KraftHeinz, the third largest U.S. food company would agree to make packaging

recyclable by 2025.

I wanted to name a few of those big compagnies heading in the right direction but this is still up

to us, the consumers, to make the difference! To ensure success in our commitment to reduce

pollution, many more companies need to commit to stop using bad plastics and follow the path

of those big compagnies highlighted her above.

Hopefully, the efforts done by some international organizations such as the United Nations will

also yield some results in the very next future. Pollution is everywhere and not just around the
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USA; actually, the main and critical issues are in Africa and Asia where the means to decrease

or eradicate pollution are not available.

Conclusion

Citizens and policy makers have begun to respond. Today, we have still billions of dollars of

annual damage to marine life because of plastics we use is waste after one single use. This

must stop! And we can all make a difference…With the excessive use of trash and not

recycling, people are endangering the marine environment and causing long term damage to

the oceans.

The assumption that oceans are so vast and deep so that no matter how much waste was

dumped into them, the effects would be negligible is over. “The solution to pollution is dilution.”

is suicidal and we need to act together now.

As I said, pollution is not new in this world; it is unfortunately either ignored or neglected. In

many countries though, innovative solutions to replace plastics are being proposed. Efforts

from countries , industries and citizens are moving in the right direction of less environmentally

damaging chemistry and clean technologies. Many local initiatives are delivering success

stories, such as the oyster farms in the Hamptons.

Pollution is a global issue and needs global actions to improve more than just the mammal life

and in general the wellbeing of humans and ecosystems. You would think that a pollution-free

planet is the best insurance, without doubt, for the survival and well-being of current and future

generations of ecosystems and humans.

I encourage everyone of us to think about what we can do every day to live in a better and

healthier place.

Reference page

1. Federal grant will help Lynnhaven River oysters recover by Lee Tolliver, December 5,

2018, The Virginian Pilot

2. Marine pollution definition, ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

3. Marine pollution and a World of waste, 2013, by Peter Kareiva,

4. Ocean Plastics, 2018, ​https://www.asyousow.org